Paris, June 17, 2025—Iran’s conflict with Israel has intensified media censorship in the Islamic Republic, with Iranian journalists warned not to comment online and a task force set up to prosecute those sharing “fake” news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday, calling for press freedom to be respected.
Two Iranian journalists, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation, said they were issued warnings hours after Israel’s first strike on Iran on Friday.
“We were summoned to an emergency meeting by the founder and director of our newspaper,” a journalist at a private Tehran-based newspaper told CPJ. “We were told that any personal commentary or reporting on our social media accounts would result in immediate dismissal.”
On Tuesday, the journalist told CPJ that she was leaving Tehran following U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to vacate the capital, but would continue to work, although her reports largely involved rewriting government statements.
“We cannot report anything at all,” she told CPJ. “We are journalists who, in this situation, are unable to practice journalism.”
An exiled freelance journalist who had been commenting on the war on social media told CPJ that they were threatened by an intelligence agent on June 13.
“My interrogator contacted me on WhatsApp and warned that if I report anything or give voice to the people, my family in Iran will be arrested,” said the journalist, who fled Iran three weeks earlier after repeated arrests for their journalism.
The journalist stopped posting under their real name on social media after this.
Internet access restricted
All broadcasting in Iran is controlled by the state and many people use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access independent news via social media — although these are also being disrupted.
It has become difficult for Iranians to access the internet since the communications ministry restricted access on June 13, citing “special conditions.” WhatsApp has also been blocked.
“CPJ is deeply concerned by the ongoing intimidation of Iranian journalists, particularly during such a sensitive time,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “By targeting the press and restricting access to independent reporting, Iranian authorities are not only suppressing critical information at home but also isolating its citizens from the global flow of news. This reflects a longstanding pattern of media repression in the country.”
Iran was tied for seventh place as one of the world’s worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s most recent annual prison census, with 16 behind bars on December 1, 2024.
Since Iran’s 1979 revolution, which ousted the U.S.-backed Shah, the Islamic Republic has called for the destruction of Israel, which it calls the Zionist regime, and backed anti-Israeli militant groups across the region. Meanwhile, Western countries have sought to block Iran’s nuclear program.
Specialized prosecutions
Iran’s Attorney General’s Office said on June 13 that people who “misuse cyberspace to undermine the psychological security of society … by publishing untrue content” would be dealt with “in accordance with the regulations.”
On June 17, the judiciary announced that a “special task force has been established within the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office to monitor cyberspace, social media users, official news agencies, and media outlets” to identify those who violated the attorney general’s order and refer them to “specialized prosecution branches.”
Local media reported multiple arrests for the crime of supporting Israel online.
On June 14, 16 people in the central city of Isfahan were arrested, privately owned Etemad newspaper reported. On June 15, one person was arrested in the central city of Rafsanjan and had their phone confiscated, and social media accounts and communication apps suspended, according to the privately owned Shargh Daily newspaper.
Iranians have previously been executed on charges of spying for Israel.
In May, six media directors and founders were convicted on charges that included publishing falsehoods. In June, Britain’s BBC said that its Iranian journalists’ families had been harassed in the Islamic Republic because of their news reports.
CPJ’s email to Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York to request comment did not receive a response.